Lynn Kern was the vainest creature that had ever been born. Arnold's daughter and Rayellen's new 'sister' seemed to think that she could not survive without looking into the mirror every few minutes, that was if she wasn't teasing, harassing, or generally annoying Rayellen. The truth was, while Rayellen was somewhat envious of Lynn's appearance, she didn't see exactly what she had to be so vain about. Lynn did have a beautiful complexion. It was beautifully flawless and as smooth as porcelain. That complexion along with her raven black hair, which fell down her back in ringlets, was quite lovely. However, the rest of Lynn's features left a little something to be desired. Her eyes were small and set slightly too far apart, while her lips were so thin that when she pressed them tightly together, they seemed to completely disappear. Plus, she was slightly overweight with a solid, blocky build. All those things along with her acidic temper and bitter tongue only marred Rayellen's opinion of her. Of course, Elizabeth and Arnold seemed to believe that Lynn was undeniably beautiful which only caused Lynn to be vainer and Rayellen to become more jealous.

Lynn had been her sister for almost four years, but Rayellen had no more understanding of her than when they had first met. This morning was the same as always, Lynn had been twisting and turning in front of the mirror they shared for what seemed to be the last hour. Rayellen was standing nearby, just wanting to make sure that she hadn't missed any buttons on her shirt and that it was tucked in properly. Finally, she got tired with waiting and stepped beside of Lynn to look at her appearance. Lynn seemed amused as Rayellen straightened her blouse.

"It's not like it's going to do you any good," Lynn hissed, a serpent-like smile adorning her round face, "You look like a freak no matter what you do."

Rayellen glanced at Lynn, but didn't allow her to see that the comment had upset her. Instead Rayellen threw back her shoulders to thrust her chest out slightly as she pretended to look into the mirror, but actually she was watching Lynn's reaction. Although Lynn was four months older, Rayellen's body was maturing at a much quicker rate. Lynn still had the solid body of a child, her chest as flat as it had ever been, and Rayellen knew that it practically killed Lynn when she showed off the fact she actually had breasts. Sometimes, Rayellen couldn't resist putting one of her bras in Lynn's drawer which she would later 'find' in front of Lynn. "What's this doing here?" she would ask dramatically, knowing that Lynn only wore training bras, which she didn't actually need.

The truth was, the development of her body was both a secret pride and a shame. She was happy to have something over Lynn, to make her jealous for once. Plus, it was a sign that she was maturing - growing up so that soon she would be able to leave home and escape her bratty 'sister' and mother who seemed to be daily growing more ashamed of her. Yet, at the same time, there was some embarrassment in developing early. Some of the guys no longer seemed to focus on her blue face, but rather wanted to have conversations with her chest. The girls, who were jealous of the attention she was getting from the guys, insisted that the only reason that she had breasts was because she had "fooled around." They would called her 'Ole Blue like some sort of dog, and would make howling and whining noises when she walked down the hall. Lynn usually was the one leading the harassment and would claim that she had seen Rayellen with guys. That, of course, wasn't true. Rayellen had no experience in those matters, but she had seen Lynn sneak behind one of the stairwells at school more than once. Still, the rumors and teasing persisted.

Rayellen's clothes were tidy enough. She was dressed a little more nicely than usual because today was her thirteenth birthday. After school, her mother and Arnold were going to take her out for dinner. Arnold had offered to throw her a party, such as Lynn's four months earlier but Rayellen had quickly declined. She had said it was because she didn't care for parties, but the truth was that she didn't have that many friends. She wasn't going to admit that, but Lynn was ready to volunteer that information.

After taking a quick look at her appearance, Rayellen hurried downstairs where her mother was preparing breakfast. "Hurry up and eat," Elizabeth commanded, "Ya don't be late for school. Yer in enough trouble already."

Rayellen shook her head as she sat down. Since being expelled from Grassy Elementary, she had moved with her mother and new family members to Ohio, which was where Arnold lived. He had worked hard to get Rayellen enrolled in the local school, but it seemed that Elizabeth was not prepared to allow Rayellen to forget her past transgressions. Of course, since Rayellen no longer tried or cared to try in class, that only made the situation worse.

Lynn came into the room and Elizabeth seemed to brighten up at the sight of her step-daughter. "Good morning," Elizabeth greeted, "Breakfast?"

"No thanks," Lynn responded, politely.

"She's on a diet," Rayellen informed her mother.

"Rayellen!" Elizabeth scolded.

"Ellen," Rayellen corrected, "I hate 'Rayellen'. It's a weird name."

Elizabeth glared at her daughter, but didn't respond directly. "Ya better be headin' off ta school," she stated, as she turned to start washing the dishes.

Rayellen despised school. She thought it was just a place for kids to gather to attack and harass one another while trying desperately to be accepted to some clique. For Rayellen, who had no group to offer her protection, she was a constant target for others. At least they kept their distance when they teased her. The fact that one of her former harassers had sported a split lip for awhile when they made the mistake of standing too close to Rayellen while taunting her had helped her in that matter. That little confrontation had caused Rayellen to be suspended for a few days, but it now seemed that the other girls were a little afraid of her. In all reality, she didn't really like to be feared but she did like the pseudo-respect that it offered.

After stopping at her locker, she went to her English class. It was one of her few classes she actually enjoyed. Normally, she enjoyed confusing her teachers by nearly failing to the point they thought that she needed transferred to a 'special class', as it was called by the other students. Then, she would study just enough to ace her tests and complete any and all assignments to near perfection. Just when the teacher in question thought that she might have reformed, she would slip back to the point of near failure. She could barely restrain her laughter when the teacher would be totally perplexed by her behavior. Sometimes they would practically beg her to do better and other times they even threatened. Yet, Rayellen stubbornly refused to only succeed when she chose to do so. However, her English teacher, Mrs. Thornberry, didn't seem confused by her actions. Mrs. Thornberry was a down-to-earth person and, while it was obvious that she did care about her students' performances, her methods for dealing with such issues were very low-key. In fact, it was hard to tell that was doing anything to curb problems, yet somehow this plain-spoken teacher had fewer problems than any other in the entire school. She seemed to take a personal interest in Rayellen, very similar to the actions of Ms. Bowen years earlier. Rayellen wouldn't allow herself to become too trusting of Mrs. Thornberry, but she did like her well enough.

Of course, Mrs. Thornberry wasn't the only reason she liked English class. It was the only class that she shared with Jason McAndrews. He wasn't the most popular boy in school, but he was decently well-known and well-liked. He was also a handsome boy with dark blonde hair and light blue, which had caused many of the girls to develop a bit of crush. Rayellen had definitely noticed his good looks, but was adamant that she didn't have a crush on him. She tried to convince herself that she didn't hate him only because he was one of the few nice students in her classes. However, she kept finding herself looking at him during class. Usually, she was able to hide this behavior.

Thankfully, she didn't have any classes with Lynn, but she did have a few with Robin, who was Lynn's best friend. Robin sat behind Rayellen in the classes they shared so that she could make sure to not miss an opportunity to make her life miserable. Today, she noticed Rayellen's wandering gaze.

"Good looking, ain't he?" Robin whispered venomously.

Rayellen felt her face flame, but she knew that it probably wasn't obvious. For once, she was actually thankful for her blue complexion as she quickly turned away. Robin wasn't satisfied, however.

"Lookie here!" she yelled to the class, "Ole' Blue's in heat!"

Rayellen's mouth dropped as she jumped to her feet and spun around to face Robin. However, Mrs. Williams quickly intervened. "I will not have that kind of talk in my classroom," she said to Robin, "Go to the office, immediately!"

Robin smirked slightly as she turned and walked out of the room. "This isn't over," Rayellen mumbled to herself.

The rest of the day was rather non-eventful. After school, Rayellen went out to dinner with her mother, Arnold, and Lynn. In front of her father, Lynn's behavior towards Rayellen was impeccable and they had a fairly good time. When they returned home, she was given her presents. Elizabeth gave her two shirts, but one was not her size and it was a bright yellow color that she would never wear. It seemed obvious to her that it was meant for Lynn, but Rayellen pretended not to notice. She could see Lynn practically drooling for the shirt, so she was determined she would wear it once and 'accidentally' get a horrible stain in a noticeable location.

Arnold's gifts were better. He gave her a beautiful locket with "Ellen" inscribed and a small, red diary that could be locked. Lynn could have taken lessons from her father on gift giving. She gave Rayellen a small bracelet that Lynn had been wanting. Like the yellow shirt, it was obvious the gift was actually intended for Lynn herself. Knowing that, Rayellen made sure to say that the bracelet would look nice with her new necklace and Arnold agreed.

Shortly thereafter, everyone prepared for bed. Even Lynn seemed to tired for her usual nightly teasing, and for this Rayellen was thankful. Curling up underneath the blankets, Rayellen quickly fell asleep, her necklace and diary lying beside her on the nightstand. Quietly, she drifting deeper into sleep and began to dream.

In her dream, she was walking down the hall of her school, but the school was different somehow. The halls were longer and there were different corridors, but she still knew where she was going. There were lots of students in the hall and everyone was staring at her. She was used to people staring, but most of her classmates were used to her appearance. Plus, she felt weird. Her skin was burning and it felt as if there were insects crawling just beneath the surface. She was rubbing her arms, trying to get the itching and burning to stop as she turned the corner and found herself staring into a full-length mirror.

Looking into the mirror, Rayellen didn't know whether to scream or to cry from happiness. Her skin was no longer blue. She had Lynn's flawless complexion and light blue eyes, but the rest of the features were hers. She marveled her hands, her arms, and her face. This was what she had wanted her entire life.

She awoke suddenly and was very disappointed to find that she had been dreaming. A little disappointed, she got up and slowly made her way into the bathroom. What a shame, she thought as she turned on the light and the room was flooded with a blinding, white light. Squinting, she shuffled towards the commode. Once finished, she reached for the light switch but stopped when she caught sight of herself in the mirror. It wasn't just a dream! The itching and burning was real as well as this beautiful skin color. Tears came to her eyes as she looked at her reflection.

Running, she hurried to her mother's bedroom and threw open the door. She didn't really think of the consequences at the time, she just wanted for someone else to see this miracle, but thankfully her mother and step-father were just sleeping. "Mom!" she cried, "Mom wake up!"

Elizabeth mumbled slightly but didn't wake. The burning and itching intensified as Rayellen began to shake her mother. "Wake up!"

"What is it?" Elizabeth finally asked, opening one eye, "What are you doing, Rayellen?" Arnold was also waking at this time.

"Look!" Rayellen demanded, "Look at me!"

"What are you yelling about?" Elizabeth questioned as Arnold turned on the light.

"You look pale," Arnold said, "Are you okay?"

Rayellen looked down at arms and saw that her normal blue coloring was now returning. "No," she whispered. The change was now becoming more rapid so that within minutes it was impossible to tell that there had ever been a change. "I'm fine," she said, "I guess I was just dreaming."

"Why did you have to wake us?" Elizabeth complained.

"It's okay," Arnold comforted, "Go on back to bed."

Meekly, Rayellen left their room and returned to her own bed. Lynn was still sound asleep and seemed so relaxed. Rayellen envied that. She was very confused and more than a little disappointed. What had she seen? Was it all just a dream? She wasn't sure but both possibilities were somewhat disappointing. If it was just a dream, then there seemed to be no chance that it could ever be a reality. If it had happened, that just opened the door to more questions. How had it happened and would it ever happen again?

Wiping away a small tear, she turned and switched on the lamp by her bed. Picking up a pen, she opened the small dairy that Arnold had given her. She had more than a few things to write about tonight.

So there's Chapter 9. Don't worry about Robin, Rayellen will extract her revenge (insert evil laugh here). In fact, there's a lot of revenge in the next chapter which I hope to have completed soon. Thanks for reading.